Regret and Redemption
by Beansmoker
Summary: Disgraced, Naruto's hope of becoming Hokage is all but dashed. However, when a brutal war breaks out, he finds his chance for redemption. Pairings undecided.


**Disclaimer**: If I said that I was Kishimoto, and that I owned Naruto, and that I am a sexy beast, I would be telling two lies. It is up to you to figure out which two the lies are.

**A.N.** Once You Pop the Fun Don't Stop. This is another fic idea of mine. I am not even a little bit sure about how often I'll update this one. I figured I'd post it, look at the feedback, and update accordingly.

**Summary**: Disgraced, Naruto's hope of becoming Hokage is all but dashed. However, he finds his chance at possible redemption when the world's first World Wide Ninja War breaks out. Pairings, undecided.

Regret and Redemption, Chapter 1:

**Failure**

_Blood dripped to the ground, traveling down Naruto's arm, and falling at his elbow. The gaping wound that his hand was planted in was unnaturally wide, gore falling out of it as his jutsu dissipated. The face of the man he once called brother, was blank._

_Naruto glanced to the side, seeing Sakura's face racked with tears. She hadn't been able to help him, she had been too busy dealing with the water specialist in Sasuke's team. She never had an opportunity to interfere in Naruto's battle. The same was true for Kakashi, who had been dealing with a two on one situation. His face was as morbid as Sakura's._

_All three battles had climaxed at the same time, it was victory for Team Seven. But that didn't help the sick feeling that Naruto felt in his stomach. He had only switched from the normal rasengan to the elemental version when he saw the glint in Sasuke's eye, subconsciously signaling that the Uchiha had something up his sleeve. Naruto was wrong however; Sasuke had been out of steam the whole time, that glint was just the madness in his former teammate as he put everything he had into one final chidori._

_Naruto pulled his hand back, Sasuke's body slid to the ground._

Naruto threw off his blanket as he violently sat up in bed. He could feel the sweat clinging to his body, soaking his clothes. He had been dreaming again, about that fateful day all that time ago. All he had been trying to do was keep his promise to Sakura, he never had any intention of doing what he did. If only he had never gone after Sasuke, if only…

Naruto shook himself out of his regrets. "What's done is done, damnit. That asshole deserved what he got." He laid back down, and forced himself to fall back to sleep. He had been turning into something of an insomniac as of late, unable to sleep with these nightmares tormenting him.

"_What Did YOU DO! Naruto!"_

_Naruto had dropped to his knees soon after Sasuke fell, disbelief etched on his face. He felt hands gripping his shoulders tightly, shaking him violently, trying to pull him out of his stupor._

"_Please, Naruto. Please tell me you hadn't aimed for his vitals. You just wanted to knock him unconscious right?" Her voice was a medley of sadness and forlorn hope. Naruto couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye._

"_I wasn't trying to-"_

"_Trying to what? What did You DO!"_

_Naruto's gaze finally met Sakura's. "I never meant to kill him!" The tears that he had been holding back for so long suddenly started pouring out. He saw Sakura's arm moving backwards, the outline of her chakra just barely visible around her fist. The Kyuubi's container did not brace himself for the blow that he anticipated._

_Kakashi pulled the girl off of Naruto before she could deliver an attack._

* * *

When the nightmares ended, it was morning. Naruto got out of bed. He was groggy, but looked right as rain to anyone looking at him from the outside. Not that anyone was paying attention to him.

He had had his chance to shine. He had made a pretty little name for himself in the days past. He defeated Gaara, brought back Tsunade, saved the Kazekage, went after Sasuke. It was all for naught now. Nothing destroys your reputation faster than killing the last member of Konoha's greatest bloodline.

Then again, Uchiha Madara was still running around, but it was highly doubtful that he would be coming back to Konoha in the foreseeable future.

Even though two years had passed since Naruto made his greatest mistake, all of the hate that his people had against him hadn't gone away. Sakura wouldn't speak to him. Kakashi was no longer his mentor. Tsunade and Jiraiya were both dead.

On top of this, the village elders couldn't stand him now that he had "destroyed" what remained of the Uchiha clan. They basically regarded him as the second coming of Itachi now, forcing dirt missions on him whenever possible, dangling promotions he would never get over his head like it was some sort of game. Naruto had been applying for, and failing to get, a position in the Anbu for little over a year now.

Everyone who didn't hate him was simply disappointed. That encompasses members of Team 10, Team 8, Team Gai. It seems as though they all really believed in Naruto when he boasted that he'd bring back Sasuke. When he didn't, it was almost as if he'd failed everyone.

Naruto still had a couple of diehard friends left. There's Rock Lee and Gaara for starters. However, this motley crew had their own troubles. They've offered their comfort when they could for the former dobe, but they couldn't put their lives on hold to help with his troubles. Naruto understood.

In the end, Naruto was left with no one to rely on but himself, and had been doing the best with what he had left. However, despite all of this, he has never given up on his dream to become Hokage. He's been demonstrating the meaning of hard work, making it to chuunin, struggling for and getting the special jounin rank. He is making progress, but it isn't enough for him to succeed in getting what he is after.

Naruto had failed to save Sasuke. That was a mistake that he would have to live with. But he'd die before he'd fail at his other promise. He would become Hokage one day. It was the only dream that he had left.

Naruto finished walking through the village of Konoha, admiring how beautiful it looked in the morning sun, and reached his destination. The Hokage Tower looked as ominous as ever, almost as if it were scraping the clouds at this angle. Naruto opened the door, walking inside, making his way to the Hokage's office.

Before he entered inside to greet the Rokudaime, he took a deep, inward breath. It didn't matter how many times he visited Konoha's newest Hokage to get his mission assignments, he could not get over the irony of the choice that Konoha's council made. When his self-reflection was done, Naruto entered the room.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. I am surprised to see that you have come to see me so soon after returning from your last mission. I would imagine that you would still be recuperating after traveling so far."

Naruto inwardly winced. Just like with the irony of the situation, he could not help but react every time he saw the deep gash that has tarnished the Rokudaime's porcelain face. Neji Hyuuga was literally blemishless up until he became a jounin. But one little fight with Uchiha Sasuke changed all of that.

It was Neji who had taken on Sasuke first, which is where the supreme irony of his selection came from. Neji and Naruto both fought Sasuke, and only Neji lost in his battle, with a gash so nasty that it is still scarring his pretty face. However, when all was said and done, Naruto couldn't beat prejudice, and Neji could. Neji's the Hokage now, and Naruto had to see him whenever he wanted a mission. At least they were still on good terms.

Naruto faked a smile. "You know how it is. R & R isn't as important when you've got bills to pay. Got any juicy missions lined up for me?"

Neji smiled back, sliding a scroll across his desk to Naruto. "This is the best I could do."

* * *

Naruto was sent on a simple investigative mission. One of the Anbu patrols had not made his routine call to headquarters the previous night. Naruto was sent with a couple chuunin to investigate. Paygrade: C with a possibility of escalating up to A

A day long tree hopping session put Naruto and his two chuunin escorts at the border between Fire Country and Wind Country. Naruto was not entirely prepared for what he saw.

By chakra enhancing his nose, Naruto was able to smell the decaying flesh before he even made it to the scene. When he got there, he identified two dead Sand Village ninja, and several dead ninja who had removed their headbands, making them unidentifiable.

However, when Naruto made a closer inspection, he realized that one of the Sand ninja was still breathing. Naruto made a move to investigate this one further, when one of the chuunin called out to him.

"Uzumaki-san, there was one more ninja." He was pointing at a trail of blood on the ground, leading east.

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Alright then. Leave it to me. You two watch this one." He gestured to the ninja who seemed to be alive. He took off running after the blood trail.

Naruto raced through the trees, being able to smell the blood that the unknown ninja was leaving on the ground. 'Whoever he is, he must be in pretty bad shape to be leaving any kind of a trail at all. Even a low rank ninja could do better than this.'

Naruto kept his speed high, the ninja had a day and then some for a head start, it could take a while to catch up. However, it was only a matter of time with this blood trail. Some time passed before Naruto noticed something very wrong.

He stopped on a dime. "Gen-" By the time that he figured out what was going on, it was too late. The enemy used a genjutsu to hide the trap. Naruto's foot tripped a wire, and a tree trunk with spikes attached swung out from its hiding place and plunged into his chest.

"Got him!" The enemy ninja exclaimed. He was hiding in a nearby bush, watching his handiwork, while nursing his wounded side with one of his arms.

"You did, didn't you?" Unbeknownst to the enemy, Naruto always lead his assaults with clones. He kept his real body hidden at all times, making him very effective on his own. He was standing right next to his foe at the moment, kunai ready.

"Shit."

Naruto held the kunai to his wounded opponent's throat. This ninja was not in fighting condition, and thus didn't resist Naruto's advance. "You're not wearing a headband." Naruto bluntly noted. "What village are you from?"

The ninja smiled. "Kill me, interrogate me, torture me. It'll be the same in the end, Leaf ninja. You're village will be burned to the ground, just like your allies in wind country."

* * *

**A.N**.- "Another Story Beansmoker?" Yeah, that's correct, example commenter. When it rains, it pours as they say. And once I come up with one fic idea, many more pour out. This one is mostly designed to highlight some of Naruto's foibles.

I mean, most authors go on and on about how intelligent Naruto is, and all that. And although it is cool to highlight his character strengths, it definitely doesn't do the manga justice to pretend that Naruto doesn't have his flaws. And I am not talking about his aloof attitude! That falls under the category of character quirks, not character flaws. What I am talking about is the fact that Naruto's determination could be his downfall. Kishi explored it somewhat in the manga with Naruto becoming so blind in his desire to save Sasuke that he allowed the Kyuubi to take its hold on him. I want to explore what would happen if these weaknesses were taken further.

This fic will be about Naruto pursuing his Hokage dream in a wartime setting. Let's see what he does to get his desired position.

_Oh yea, gotta love them beans. Here it comes!_

"_I'll take you home,_

_We'll Walk in The Shaa-Doows!_

_By Day We'll Live in a Dream! (Walk With Me!)_

_We'll Walk in the Shaa-doows!"_


End file.
